Moving Out Of A Property Managed By Nesbitt Realty

Even if your lease is ending, you have to give your landlord a written notice in advance of the time you move out. (This is because most leases have renewal clauses.) Your lease should state how much time is enough notice. Usually you must give Nesbitt Realty written notice that you plan to move at least 30 days before the rent is due, but under some circumstances your lease may require 60 days notice. Please check your lease. Your notice must contain an exact move-out date to be a move-out notice.

Move-Out Date vs. Lease-End Date

Although your lease most likely ends the last day of your final month, we know that tenants often move sooner than the actual last day. In other words, your move-out date may be sooner than your lease ending date. When that happens, there is a chance for you to receive a partial rebate of your final month's rent.

You can receive a rebate, if we move a new tenant in before the end of the month. If it so happens that you are going to vacate early and would like to have this rebate opportunity, please let us know in writing of your actual move-out date so that we may offer a corresponding move-in date to new tenant prospects. Once received, we will hold you to this earlier date so please be certain of your plans. Otherwise, you must be finished, out of the property, and have the keys to our office by no later than 5PM of the last day of your lease. No extra or holdover days will be allowed beyond your move-out date.

Your Move-Out Meeting

The purpose of the move-out inspection is to make sure that all the belongings that you are taking have been removed and to collect the keys.
The purpose of the move-out inspection is not to create an action list that the tenant must complete in order to secure a return of the deposit. The purpose of the move-out meeting is not to argue what charges will me made and what repairs are needed.

It may be helpful if at move-out you remind the agent of any pre-existing conditions which were noted on the move-in and are still evident. It is not helpful to argue the condition of the property at that point as the person doing the move-out meeting has no role in deciding how much deposit will be refunded to the tenant.

When the keys are turned in, the tenancy is at an end and any repairs or cleaning must be managed by the Landlord or the Landlord's agent. It is possible (and it often happens) that some damage to the property is not obvious during the 5 minutes of the move-out meeting.

Even if the damage is not noticed during the move-out meeting, the tenant is still responsible for cleaning and repair expenses.

Within 45 days after you move out of the rental property, your security deposit must be given to you. If there are any deductions, you will be given a written list with the amount of any deductions, damages, and/or charges.

Deposit Return

Nesbitt Realty processes and mails deposit refunds when we close out monthly books. We will send you a full accounting in writing. We cannot give you a partial or early accounting over the phone. If you have not already provided us with your forwarding address in writing, please do so immediately - it must be in writing. Here are some important things to know about your deposit:

• No matter what charges are deducted from your deposit, Nesbitt Realty never profits from security deposits.  Only actual expenses are deducted.
• Your deposit is held in an escrow account and is never in a Nesbitt Realty operating account. We do not benefit from holding your deposit.
• Nesbitt Realty must have a forwarding address to send your deposit.
• Nesbitt Realty must have evidence that your utilities have been paid or moneys will be withheld from the deposit to cover the utilities.

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Marketing Process

There will be a sign and lockbox placed on your property, as stated in your lease, and Nesbitt Realty will begin efforts to locate the next tenant after we receive your notice to vacate. We will, with advance notice to you each time, be showing your unit to tenant prospects. Ideally, a new tenant will be found soon and this process will be a short one.

Anything you can do to make the property show better will increase the probability that the process will end sooner.

If you have pets, you agreed in your Pet Agreement to remove or kennel them if they interfere in any way with our access to the property.

This will be strictly enforced, no exceptions. If your yard needs attention, please tend to it at once. The "curb appeal" and interior appearance of a property is extremely important to our success in finding a new resident quickly. When we work together, the leasing process usually has a win-win result. We find someone fast and you endure minor, if any, disturbance.

Your lease requires that you professionally clean your carpet. Do not clean the carpet yourself. Hire a professional and give us the receipt as evidence that you hired a professional. If you do not have the carpet cleaned, we will have your carpet professional cleaned upon your move-out and the cost plus a handling fee will be deducted from your security deposit.

If there is or ever was a pet in your property, you must have the property treated for fleas, whether you think there are fleas present or not. This must be done by a professional company. If you do not do this then the actual cost plus a handling fee will be deducted from your deposit along with the carpet cleaning cost as described above, per your lease agreement. Please pick up all pet droppings from the yard before you leave, otherwise we hire a “pooper scooper” service to do this and deduct the cost from your deposit.

Utilities

Pursuant to your lease agreement, leave all utilities on through the end of your lease term, regardless of whether you move out sooner. Most leases end the last day of a month, so schedule your utilities to go off on the first day of the following month. Otherwise, we will have the service reinstated and you will be charged turn-on fees, the cost of which will far surpass any savings you may realize by turning utilities off too early.

Moving is a very tiresome event. Please consider carefully whether you will have the time and energy, after moving, to properly clean your place. Most commonly, tenants have every intention of leaving the property clean, usually boasting to us, “it will be cleaner than when we moved in”. But then those same folks simply run out of time or are too exhausted after hauling boxes. They blow off the final clean and walk away figuring their deposit will cover the cleanup costs. This leaves us scrambling to get things handled at the last minute before the new tenant moves in. The problem is compounded when utilities have been turned off. You will suffer financial consequences if this happens.

Nothing will consume your deposit more than your failure to return the property good and clean. Please consider hiring a cleaning service if you don't know for sure that you are going to be able to return the property to us in a good and clean condition. We will charge a minimum $100 coordination fee, plus $75 per trip for re-inspections, meeting vendors at the property, etc. on top of the actual costs of cleaning and repairs if you leave unfinished cleaning and trash hauling.

Contact us if you’d like a recommended cleaning service.

Repairs

Please take this moment to think about anything that may need attention at your property that you have not previously reported to us. Do you have toilets that run? Do all the appliances work properly? Have you caused damage to the property that needs repair? If you think of anything, please let us know in writing so we won't be surprised by it after you move out.

Do Not Spackle Or Touch-Up

Please DO NOT fill nail holes in your walls with spackle unless you have the capability to match the paint perfectly and make it appear as if there are no holes in the wall. If the walls need to be repaired it will be cheaper to do it once, that to gouge out or repaint an amateur repair job.

You must take all of your trash and belongings with you. Do not leave your trash can full. Do not leave trash stacked at the curb. If you do, we will send a hauling company to remove it and you will be charged for the cleanup. There will be a minimum $75 hauling charge to remove any trash or items that you leave behind.

All keys must be returned to Nesbitt Realty in Alexandria or the managing agent by 5PM on your move-out date. Leave any garage door devices inside the property in a kitchen drawer. Returning the keys constitutes the formal act of “surrendering possession” back to the landlord. Make sure you leave us a forwarding address in writing. We are required by Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act to return your deposit to this address.
Nesbitt Realty will never meet tenants at the property to collect the keys or perform a final walk-through. After you surrender possession you will not have a “second chance” to re-enter the property to correct items you forgot or missed.